Epitaph
by The Muses of Mars
Summary: A beloved member of Jem and the Holograms goes missing. After agonizing, sleepless nights and a harrowing search, the hopes and dreams of America's sweetheart pop group are torn apart when the heart and soul of the band is found dead.
1. Chapter 1

"There it is!" Raya exclaimed, pointing a finger at the black iron gates up ahead.

"Finally!" Kimber whined. "I was beginning to wonder if this parking lot even _had _a zoo!"

Jerrica laughed, but shook her head at her younger sister. "Come on, it wasn't that bad," she soothed, referring to the nearly twenty-minute trek from the spot where they'd parked their car to the Columbus Zoo ticket booth.

"Oh, yes, it was!" Kimber argued back. "You're not the one in heels!"

Aja shrugged without sympathy. "It was your choice to be fashionable instead of wearing a sensible pair of shoes," she retorted.

Kimber glared back at her. "Hey, how was _I _supposed to know we'd have to walk a mile before we'd even get through the door?"

"It could be worse," Shana chimed in. "Remember the last time we went to the zoo—back in San Diego?"

The girls groaned, but Raya didn't understand. "San Diego?" she repeated questioningly.

The other bandmates exchanged glances.

"A few years ago we took the Starlight girls to the San Diego zoo," Jerrica began.

"Courtesy of one Randy James," Shana named-dropped their celebrity drummer friend with a grin, causing Raya's eyebrows to raise.

Aja took up the story while they waited in line for tickets. "Ba Nee mistook Randy for her father, based on the fact that he served in Vietnam, and because he has red hair, like her mother told her her father did."

"And she tried to prove it by making him rescue her, by jumping into the bear pen," Kimber finished.

Raya covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh, God... I never knew!"

"Well, it all worked out okay," Jerrica said, though it still shook her to recall the ordeal. "We were able to get Ba Nee out before...before anything happened," she finished quickly.

"Thanks to you, Jerrica," Aja added quietly.

Kimber put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

They paid for their tickets and walked through the gates soberly. "All right, no more gloom and doom!" Aja said sharply. "We came here to have fun, so let's!"

The screams of people flying high off the ground on a roller coaster ride to their left got them back into the spirit of things.

"I didn't know there were rides!" Raya said excitedly.

"It's a water park!" Shana laughed. "Now _that _sounds like fun. Wanna go?"

"Sure!" Raya agreed.

Aja had grabbed a park map on her way in, and had already unfolded it and begun to examine the winding paths through the zoo exhibits. "I think I'll start at the aquarium. I want to _see_ the water—not _wear_ it," she cracked.

"I'll go with you," Jerrica said. "Kimber, which way are you going?"

But the redhead's attention was already on the gift shop. "I think I'll look around for a souvenir," she said without tearing her gaze away from the display window.

Shana shook her head. "Anything you buy now, you're just going to have to carry around all day."

"Let's stop on the way out," Aja agreed.

"If I find something cute, I'll just buy a new handbag to put it in!" Kimber argued with a flippant smile. "Maybe I can pick up some flip-flops, while I'm at it; my feet are killing me!"

"Suit yourself," Jerrica said, heading along the path with Aja. "You've got my cell phone number, so give us a call when you want to meet up and we can see the rest of the zoo together."

"Okay, have fun!" Kimber called, waving to her friends.

It was the last time they would ever see each other.


	2. Chapter 2

"I didn't know it cost extra," Shana grumbled a little as she and Raya entered the water park.

Raya watched everyone enjoying the rides with shining eyes. "Come on. It will be worth it!"

_"Zoombezi Bay,"_ Shana read from the map a guide had handed to her. "_Eleven water rides... _That shouldn't take us too long. The lines seem to be short."

"Look! There's a cabaña rental!" Raya said, excitedly pointing out some shady huts along the edge of a pond. "When we're finished riding, we should text Aja and Jerrica and ask them to pick up lunch and bring it here for a scenic picnic!"

Shana grinned at her. "What a great idea!"

* * *

"Oh, no, there's a line!" Aja said as soon as she and Jerrica had stepped through the glass doors and entered the aquarium.

"That's just for the petting zoo," Jerrica said, reading a sign next to the roped-off area to their right. "I don't think I want to 'pet' anything, do you?" She raised a skeptical brow.

Aja looked at her for a moment, then they shook their heads simultaneously, laughing. "Come on, then. Let's move ahead and see what else there is."

They bypassed the small aquatic petting zoo, where kids and adults alike were squealing over the slimy feel of tiny sea creatures, and soon found themselves walking alongside a floor-to-ceiling tank viewing a variety of fish in all sizes, shapes, and colors.

"Wow... Is that a shark?" Jerrica exclaimed, pressing her hands to the glass.

"Look!" Aja pointed. "A sting ray!"

There were more than a dozen different sea creatures swimming by on display, and beautiful plantlife clinging to the rocks behind them.

"It almost makes you feel like you're underwater!" Aja laughed, having to look at the floor for a moment as she almost lost her balance.

"This is amazing," Jerrica breathed. "Kimber should hurry and catch up. She wouldn't want to miss this!"

* * *

Kimber had gotten hung up at the clothing racks in the souvenir shop and completely lost track of the time. There were hats, T-shirts, sweatshirts, sunglasses, and handbags, and she'd wanted to touch and try them all on. When she'd finally finished browsing, she was certain even Aja would approve of her restraint in making a solitary, "sensible" purchase: just a pair of flat sandals she'd found on a safari-themed display.

There were so many other things to see, but she resisted the temptation to stock up now and instead decided to shop with the girls when they were all on their way out of the zoo later today. For now she reached into her purse, fishing around for her cell phone.

Just as her fingers found their target, the sound of a familiar ringtone gave her a start.

_"Twilight in Paris, city of lights..."_

She'd written that song. And then, ironically, had had to pay to download it as a ringtone.

Kimber plucked the cell out of her purse, checking the screen to see who was calling. The number didn't display; instead the phone showed the caller's ID as "private."

Annoyed, she pressed a button and then held the phone up to her ear. "Hello?" she sighed.

"_Hey there, sweetheart,"_ a raspy voice breathed into the phone.

"Um...who is this?" Kimber asked, looking around to see if someone was playing a prank on her. She didn't recognize the voice, but something about it sent a shiver creeping along the back of her neck.

The voice sighed heavily. _"So many boyfriends, you can't keep track of 'em all, can you, Kimber?"_

That voice... The way he said her name... Almost like and "a" sound at the end of it, rather than an "er." The accent sounded familiar to her now. But she couldn't quite place whom it belonged to.

Kimber was so hung up on the fact that an almost-familiar name was on the tip of her tongue and a nearly-recognized face at the fringes of her mind that she forgot the guy's implied insult. "I don't like guessing games," the redhead said seriously, looking around her surroundings warily. "Who are you?"

"_Meet me in the parking lot, and you'll find out,"_ the man challenged. _"I'm parked right beside you."_

The call disconnected. Kimber knew that the man had hung up on her without having to look at her phone, because the heavy breathing had finally stopped hissing in her ear.

The girl looked down at the cell phone clutched in her palm with indecision. It sounded like a prank. It had to be someone she knew, though, right? He had her number and he knew her name. And his voice _did_ sound familiar. But who would do a creepy thing like that, tell a girl to meet him out in a parking lot alone, a twenty-minute walk from her friends and everyone else?

Well, she didn't know. But she was determined to find out!

And then she was going to give him a piece of her mind.


End file.
